Scott English


Sheldon David English, known as Scott English, was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. This song became a No. 1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, with the title changed to "Mandy". English had also released a single of "Brandy" which reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1971, and entered the US chart in March 1972.

Life and career

English was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States.
In 1960, he released his first single, "4,000 Miles Away," on Dot Records. In 1964, English had a regional doo-wop hit called "High on a Hill", written by Frank Cariola and A. Mangravito. "High on a Hill" has consistently been voted an all-time top song on oldies radio stations in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It also reached No. 3 in popularity on the San Francisco Bay Area radio chart.
With Larry Weiss, he wrote "Bend Me, Shape Me", which became a hit for the Chicago-based band The American Breed, reaching No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968 and also becoming a hit in the UK for Amen Corner. This song had been recorded a year earlier by The Outsiders as an album track on The Outsiders In.
English and Weiss, whom he met through arranger Klaus Alderman, became good friends. Together, they also penned "Help Me Girl", which was a hit for two acts in late 1966: Eric Burdon solo for Decca, a UK No. 14 and The Outsiders, Lynne Randell's "Ciao Baby" and Jeff Beck's hit "Hi Ho Silver Lining", originally recorded by English group The Attack in early 1967.
English produced the song "West Virginia" by The Elves in 1969 which featured Ronnie James Dio on bass and vocals. He later produced Thin Lizzy's eponymous debut album Thin Lizzy. He co-wrote the song "Words Don't Mean a Thing" with Lynsey De Paul, who released her version of the song on her album Just a Little Time. The song was also featured on the 2008 album Songs From The British Academy, Vol. 1. A Spanish version was released by Cadafal on their album En La Carretera.
In 1998, English was credited as a co-writer with Simon Stirling and Phil Mankiza on the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, "Where Are You?," performed by Imaani.
In 2014, English appeared on BBC Radio London's Jo Good Show, debuting a new song "Holla" he wrote for the artist WestWay Beats.
He died in England on 16 November 2018 at the age of 81, due to complications of hip surgery.

Discography

as Scott English

Albums

1960s